We had to watch the music video for This is America yesterday (75% of the class who had never heard of Rock Hudson had seen it) and the lecturer was like it’s so clever and you just get it instantly... I had no idea what it was about. Except I assume something to do with all the American shootings? Technically I thought it was well done but I got nothing out of it. Guess you need to pay attention to American news or something

"I do not always know what I want, but I do know what I don't want." - Stanley Kubrick

Maybe, but he’s still a big part of classic film history that people claiming to be interested in film should know about, whereas this is just a music video. But apparently about 75-90% of kids at uni only watch stuff on YouTube so I guess a 4-5 minute clip is equivalent to a feature to them these days.

"I do not always know what I want, but I do know what I don't want." - Stanley Kubrick

Yeah, I'm not sure I'd expect This is America to resonate with people outside the US. If you're heavily steeped in American culture, there's a lot to unpack there. It's pretty much all US social commentary, and if you're not in that "in group", I think it would fall flat.

I'm trying to discover more & more music, as i have been stuck with the artists i was most accustomed too (or music genres, and relied too much on YouTube autoplay lol), or had some songs endless times on repeat.

Grimes, Cocteau Twins and Empress Of are my three favourite music artists / bands while Panda Bear - Person Pitch, Grimes - Halfaxa and Cocteau Twins - Treasure are the best music albums ever made, although nothing can really top

HALFAXA

Best thing in the world.

I'm so in love with this. I can't describe how much i love this album.

There's something a little autistic about Halfaxa, like her last one, "Geidi Primes"; it's a little like the Fever Ray album that way, beautiful and unquestionably original but so closed off it resists any kind of emotional connection. Clare Boucher is a talented songwriter, and--that rarest of birds--a totally unique voice, literally and figuratively. Her singing is amazing, switching easily from a sweet coo to strange muezzin wails and even more alien shapes, and the production is pop-smart, twisting cheesy '80s industrial and Dead Can Dance world-goth into unusually propulsive and replayable dirges--listen to the beat on "Sagrad" if you're unconvinced, a razor-sharp techno bounce around which her gaseous, multitracked voice expands and contracts like a pitched-up garage diva's. The thing that makes "Halfaxa" so intense and so hard to get a hold of, though, is that this bewitching voice and unerring ear for melody is in the service of a claustrophobic, somewhat warped worldview. This album is clearly the work of an extremely isolated, obsessive psyche, and while I wouldn't dream of speculating on Boucher's mental state--she's probably completely normal, if a little eccentric--I can't deny that the complexity, the darkness and mystery in this music evokes feelings of unease, loneliness, or fear. On the other hand, that kind of haunted, unwell music speaks to me deeply, and the utterly alien atmosphere of "Halfaxa" is one I could get lost in for weeks. I have to admit, I'm blown away by this record, and I'm looking forward to it working its hooks even deeper into me.

Am I the only one who thinks David Byrne from Talking Heads is a terrible singer? I watched Stop Making Sense yesterday and the opening song clearly illustrates that he sings out of tune all the time, especially in the higher regions. When the songs pick up on pace while the concert progresses, his singing is getting more and more like shouting.

So what about his performance? There's no denying he puts all his energy into his show, but I mostly thought it was laughable. Not in a good way though. I thought he looked like a failed Andy Kaufman.

Good songs then? Rather simplistic tunes and lyrics, which is mostly clear in the first few songs where everything is stripped down. With the full band it gets a bit better, but songs get repetitive pretty soon and that happens every song. New Wave clearly isn't my type of music.

Fun idea for a concert to build up from nothing to full band, but overall not as special as people are saying it is. Maybe I would have loved this if I was a teenager in the 80's.

Am I the only one who thinks David Byrne from Talking Heads is a terrible singer? I watched Stop Making Sense yesterday and the opening song clearly illustrates that he sings out of tune all the time, especially in the higher regions. When the songs pick up on pace while the concert progresses, his singing is getting more and more like shouting.

So what about his performance? There's no denying he puts all his energy into his show, but I mostly thought it was laughable. Not in a good way though. I thought he looked like a failed Andy Kaufman.

Good songs then? Rather simplistic tunes and lyrics, which is mostly clear in the first few songs where everything is stripped down. With the full band it gets a bit better, but songs get repetitive pretty soon and that happens every song. New Wave clearly isn't my type of music.

Fun idea for a concert to build up from nothing to full band, but overall not as special as people are saying it is. Maybe I would have loved this if I was a teenager in the 80's.

IMO Stop Making Sense is the greatest music performance/doc ever made.

I've been listening that exact album of Crystal Castles non-stop, so you're probably hitting it. I've listened almost non-stop for music for four days. I've listened over 800 songs this month, and 21.000 songs in total this year (i didn't keep track of it in january though, so it's been more probably, probably around 23.000, cause on average i listen to 2000 songs each month and december isn't over yet, so i'll probably hit 25.000 at the end of the year). I liked Joy Division, Bauhaus, The Cure and The Doors as well. I also like 7 from Beach House, but less his earlier albums, and i'm of course a huge fan of Empress Of as well. I also like shoegaze, and i think Loveless from My Bloody Valentine is very good as well. I really like grunge as well, and i think Alice in Chains, Pearl Jam, Nirvana and Soundgarden make great music as well. I like Depeche Mode as well, and i seem to like Nine Inch Nails as well, but i need to explore them more. I also like New Order, Burial, Agar Agar, James Holden, Panda Bear and Animal Collective and i also like La Femme. I also seemed to like Lycia and Chelsea Wolve too.

Am I the only one who thinks David Byrne from Talking Heads is a terrible singer? I watched Stop Making Sense yesterday and the opening song clearly illustrates that he sings out of tune all the time, especially in the higher regions. When the songs pick up on pace while the concert progresses, his singing is getting more and more like shouting.

So what about his performance? There's no denying he puts all his energy into his show, but I mostly thought it was laughable. Not in a good way though. I thought he looked like a failed Andy Kaufman.

Good songs then? Rather simplistic tunes and lyrics, which is mostly clear in the first few songs where everything is stripped down. With the full band it gets a bit better, but songs get repetitive pretty soon and that happens every song. New Wave clearly isn't my type of music.

Fun idea for a concert to build up from nothing to full band, but overall not as special as people are saying it is. Maybe I would have loved this if I was a teenager in the 80's.

IMO Stop Making Sense is the greatest music performance/doc ever made.

I like her voice, and i think she's very quirky which i like in music. Things need to be hypnotic, psychedelic and quirky / weird for me in order to get my attention. I love songs that drain me from reality and make me forget that i listen to music or even forget that i even exist, because i'm so into the music. That's why I like Halfaxa so much, because hypnosis is such a pretty feeling, and it also helps against my anxiety... Everytime i feel very stressed, i listen to Grimes - Halfaxa and the stress goes away.

The rock genres that are most hypnotic are: surf rock, psychedelic rock (esp. The Doors), new wave, ethereal wave, goth rock, post-punk, grunge (maybe less, but Soundgarden sounds hypnotic though) and shoegaze. Electro genres are at times hypnotic often too, esp. house genres, trance (hence the name) and drum&bass / soft dubstep. Synthpop and dream pop are very hypnotic too.

I've skipped that Japanese film score, but i'll watch some movies from the same director (Hana and Alice and April Story will have priority though), and i hope i will like it. I really liked that psychedelic folk song from Linda Perhacs. I liked the song of Bjork as well. I haven't listened to albums of her yet, but I like Venus as a Boy and Big Time Sensuality already, but didn't know that Bjork song, but it might be the best song i've heard of her.

The song of Lana Del Rey is also really good. For some reason, i can't get into her, but i haven't listened an album of her's, but only her three most famous songs, and after the movie Mommy i thought i really like Born To Die, but when i play it at random moments, i don't like it. But in Gods & Monsters, her voice is really beautiful, so i really don't know about Lana Del Rey. I might like her voice more than Adele, and i think she's way more talented than Adele is, while Adele is the more famous one between the two of them, although Adele has really good songs like Rolling in the Deep, but overall is pretty overrated. I liked the song of Chromatics you shared, i might check them out too. Sweet Trip is good too. Pertubator okay to good as well, and Slowdive is okay as well, but i need to listen more to it, i'll probably check the entire album out it at some point.

From Bjork I’d especially recommend Vespertine to you; I described it earlier as “her most dreampunk, fairy-tale, child-going-to-sleep lullaby-like, and 'pagan' album”, and I’d say it’s overall rather similar to ‘Halfaxa’.

Am I the only one who thinks David Byrne from Talking Heads is a terrible singer? I watched Stop Making Sense yesterday and the opening song clearly illustrates that he sings out of tune all the time, especially in the higher regions. When the songs pick up on pace while the concert progresses, his singing is getting more and more like shouting.

So what about his performance? There's no denying he puts all his energy into his show, but I mostly thought it was laughable. Not in a good way though. I thought he looked like a failed Andy Kaufman.

Good songs then? Rather simplistic tunes and lyrics, which is mostly clear in the first few songs where everything is stripped down. With the full band it gets a bit better, but songs get repetitive pretty soon and that happens every song. New Wave clearly isn't my type of music.

Fun idea for a concert to build up from nothing to full band, but overall not as special as people are saying it is. Maybe I would have loved this if I was a teenager in the 80's.

I love new wave but I'm no fan of Talking Heads. Stop Making Sense is the next album in the RYM 1001 albums list for me actually, but I've had to sit through 4 of their albums so far and haven't liked any of them, all pretty much blend into each other. I've always liked Once in a Lifetime, but that's where the 'love' ends.

"I do not always know what I want, but I do know what I don't want." - Stanley Kubrick

Wow, i didn't know your profile photo was Bjork on it, but i'll always thought that girl on your avatar was insanely attractive.

XXX420APATHYXXX also has good taste though (i mean: past avatars lol).

I might make a top 250 singles, but i'm not sure if it's worth it cause i need to discover a lot of music, but i'd really like to do one, and than to at least make a new one late next year. I mean with one post for every 10 singles in a thread.

Well i've listened to the four first albums of Bjork. Some songs / albums might need a second hearing, and actually they'll all get multiple ones, i can guarantee you that. Especially since i throw a lot of songs on repeat all the time. I've listened to Halfaxa probably already 200 times, and it never gets old. Never. It only gets better and better. I don't think i've had days where i didn't listen to Grimes at least once a day in the last four years. I just need her. I've probably heard her voice already more than the voice of my mom (that's not even hard) throughout all of my life, and since my connection with my mom is very abstract (only those few memories), i think 'imagination' might make up for those few memories it in case of Grimes. It's crazy if you think about it.

The first album - Debut - was good, and probably the most accessible and playful album of her's. It has some good songs and some "hits" on it, or at least some of her more famous songs Venus as a Boy is a beautiful single i already knew. Crying and Human Behaviour are good as well... I didn't like the album version of Big Time Sensuality as the YouTube version unfortunately. Come To Me and Violently Happy are okay too. It has some bad songs unfortunately as well (like the Anchor Song). I've given it 7/10. The second album has a very good start: Army of Me, Hyperballad, The Modern Things and It's oh so quiet (although i wouldn't like to listen this song on repeat a lot, but it's technically well executed and has that little 'extra something') is a strong start, but i think those are also the four strongest songs of the album. Maybe i need to listen to the second part of the album again more thoroughly. 7/10 as of know. Homogenic has a stronger second part where the electronics are more used in her work, but i think the first songs i'll need to listen more to and that those are songs that will be able to grow, and they are good. The second part is just even better. 8/10. And the last album Vespertine is a masterpiece, and i gave it 9/10 and is good from beginning to end with almost no bad songs! Although it's very calm so you'll need to be in the mood and i'm not sure if it could hypnotize me the same way Halfaxa does. Halfaxa is a lot more active, but I really liked Vespertine, and the person who recommended it was spot on for it.

Glad you liked those first four Bjork albums, to some extent. I think all four are brilliant, to varying degrees, but Vespertine I agree is the masterpiece that is strongest from start to finish. I'm still working my way through her subsequent albums, myself.

Well i went out of my comfort zone at times last week, and it really paid off. I usually didn't like rock, but i seem to like new wave / gothic / post-punk a lot. I also discovered that ethereal wave might even be one of my favourite genres, while goth rock might be my favourite rock genre. I listened to the first time to The Cure and i really liked it. I mean Disintegration is insanely good. I also listened to My Bloody Valentine - Loveless and I really like it too, and i listened to the debut album of The Doors and I also really like it. I liked Violator from Depeche Mode as well. I've listened to Juju from Siouxsie & The Banshees which i liked as well, and to Apokalypsis of Chelsea Wolfe. I liked the two albums of Joy Division and the first album of New Order i already listened!

And lol Cocteau Twins is partly new wave / goth rock (esp. first album) and new wave too. Grimes - Halfaxa is labelled as witch house (which i used to listen a lot) and goth pop, like what the fuck is up with all the goth. I never knew what music it used to be, and i just happened to like all of it. It's very coincidental. She Past Away is also goth rock, and i didn't know that too. I always thought it was punk, so i always said to myself, i should listen more to punk, but it turns out to be goth rock as well?

Maybe i accidentally would even fit in the gothic subculture, cause yes, i'm attracted towards dark and macabre stuff, i really love darkness for some reason (it calms my mood), i like black-and-white. I like movies about witchcraft and vampirism (lol). I never thought about it... but i really seem to share a lot of characteristics with it.